Zinc Split penny
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3D3DSplit penny.
There's a guy, Gunther von Hagens, who creates museum exhibits that consist of human bodies that have been split open and displayed as perfectly preserved cross sections or expanded versions of their natural state. This is the same idea, only applied to a 1990 US penny.
Modern pennies consist of a zinc core with a copper plating. See the previous sample for information about how remove the copper and leave the zinc core, and this sample for information about how to remove the zinc core and leave the copper foil.
Do both and glue them together with a tiny stick of pencil lead, and you have this expanded penny, which I used in a Popular Science column. Watch the rotation video to see if from all sides.
Source: Tryggvi Emilsson and Timothy Brumleve
Contributor: Tryggvi Emilsson and Timothy Brumleve
Acquired: 4 May, 2007
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: $0.03
Size: 0.6"
Purity: 99%
Sample Group: Coins
Zinc